1. Field of the invention
Disclosed herein is a timber composite, a method of manufacturing a timber composite and decorative panels comprising such timber composite. In particular, the timber composite may be suitable for, but not limited to, flooring or other surface applications.
2. Related Art
Composite timber is used as a construction and/or decorative material. However, known timber composite has low density and low strength, which can limit the viable applications for such timber.
Plywood is one example of a composite timber that is used as a construction material. To form plywood, several layers of wood (e.g. having a thickness of 1.6 mm to 2 mm) are stacked such that the direction of the grains of the layers alternates. Adhesive is applied to the surfaces of the layers of wood such that they are bonded to one another. The quality or veneer grade may change from high quality, or veneer grade A for the outermost layers or just for the top layer, to low quality, or veneer grade C or less for the internal layers and possibly the bottommost layer. Floor panels manufactured from such plywood panels are disclosed in WO 2005/060507. In such floor panels the upper decorative surface is formed from a thick veneer of a high quality grade. The mechanical properties, such as impact and scratch resistance, of the upper surface depend on the wood species of this veneer.
For decorative reasons, some timber is produced with an embossed effect, where the surface of the timber is textured according to the grain of the timber. Such an effect is produced by scraping off portions of the surface of the timber that are low density, either manually, e.g. with a steel brush, or by a machine. This results in the surface of the timber having a rugged “wire-drawn” or embossed appearance corresponding to the grain of the timber. The timber used in such a process is low density, because only low density timber (e.g. pine, elm, oak, etc.) is suitable for scraping. However, such timber, due to its low density, may be easily damaged (e.g. forming a concave shape) or may wear quickly from daily usage, and thus may not be suitable for long term applications, e.g. in panels for a floor covering.
From WO 2010/032080 it is known to manufacture a wooden panel for use as a floor board by gluing and pressing scrap wooden strips. The obtained floor boards possess a high hardness. The resulting decorative aspect of the wood grain pattern is unnatural.
WO 2014/109697, which was not published at the earliest priority date of the present application, discloses a building panel comprising an MDF/HDF core with an applied thereon surface layer comprised of veneer and thermosetting resin. The building panel may amongst others be used as a floor panel or a furniture panel. At the bottom of the panel a balancing layer of thermosetting resin is applied. The above references to the background art do not constitute an admission that the art forms part of the common general knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The above references are also not intended to limit the application of the methods or timber composite as disclosed herein.